The present invention relates to an in-car computer system comprising a control device for displaying a main menu and plural sub-menus, each containing at least one selectable menu item, and an operating unit for selecting and activating a menu item within the main menu or sub-menu. Further, the present invention relates to a method for selecting and activating option menus in an in-car computer system.
In-car computer systems of the aforementioned kind are generally known. The applicant for example offers a system called “CarPC” which allows to control a plurality of functions within a vehicle. The range of functions of such an in-car computer system does not only include the operation or control of audio sources and the navigation system, but also communication units like telephone, Internet etc. or classical vehicle-specific functions like air conditioning, seat adjustment, etc.
The in-car computer system comprises a display (monitor) for operating these functions, on which option menus may be displayed and which allows activation of individual functions by selecting the menus. The option menus are generally structured hierarchically and generally comprise one main menu level and one or more sub-menu levels. The main menu as well as the sub-menus in turn comprise several menu items each which are displayed on the display for selection.
The selection of a menu item both in the main menu and in the sub-menus is done by means of an operating unit which is generally provided as a so-called rotary/push button. By rotating the rotary/push button, a selection mark or cursor may be moved from one menu item to the next, and the activation, i.e. the selection of a menu item, is carried out by pushing the rotary/push button.
For speeding up navigation within the option menus, a so-called hard key (push button switch) is often provided which allows to jump from any menu level to the main menu.
If the user of the in-car computer system intends to jump from a sub-menu assigned to a main menu item to another main menu item, the user has to push for example the hard key to jump back to the main menu, has to turn the rotary/push button until the cursor is on the desired main menu item, so that finally by pushing the rotary/push button the main menu item is activated and the underlying sub-menu item is reached.
Although the operation as described above is reliable in general, there is a demand to further increase the ergonomics of an in-car computer system and to enhance the man-machine interface.